Lying down, dying, in a shitty house, in a shitty camp, in a shitty country, was Joseph McBane, or as he was known in this life, Aafknolbg Osdneao, one of, if not the, greatest military mind of the last couple centuries.

He wasn't that good of a strategist but his tactical maneuvers would be studied centuries in the future. He was a man far ahead of his time, the one who could turn nothing into something, and as such, he was gifted the nigh-heretical moniker 'The Creator.'

Even more impressive than his tactical mind were his combat skills. Despite being only 34, his skills with the sword felt as if they'd been honed for centuries, making him almost undefeatable in a duel.

Yet here he was, bleeding out, on the verge of death. It had been an assassination attempt, though it wouldn't take too long before it would simply be called an assassination. He had been tasked with advancing through a mountain pass and taking control of the region in order to allow access to the land beyond it.

Originally, he had been given 6 years to complete the operation but unfortunately, too many old men had gotten into staring contests, and the pressure on, and in, his kingdom ramped up. Due to this, his time dropped to 2 years.

After a few minor victories, his army had reached the mountain fort blocking their access towards the rest of their enemy's land. Given the lack of time for a protracted siege, Joseph had decided to use a two-faced attack, sparking fires and sabotage in the fort, while constantly firing with trebuchets.

The plan was on its way to success before someone had managed to launch a sneak attack on him. He still had no idea if it had been one of the many foolish factions within his kingdom or a foreign threat. While he killed the assailant, it was only after receiving several deep wounds, and to make matters worse, he suspected there was poison on the blade.

By now, the pain had started to fade away, replaced by numbness and a cold feeling, in the same way Joseph's mind gradually transitioned from frustration to peace.

"This battle is already won, I doubt my presence makes much of a difference. If everything progresses as normal, assault the walls in two weeks." Facing his loyal second-in-command, he said his dying words, several soldiers still rushing about, trying to stem the loss of blood. It had been entirely unexpected and as such, the response wasn't fast enough.

His second-in-command, his best friend nodded, his eyes firm yet watery.

"I would've loved to have died in battle rather than like this but God has his plans for all of us. Tell my wife everything but not my children. I trust you to provide for them. In the end, I- stop trying to save me. Get off me and go fight. I want to talk to him alone." He briefly raised his head to the soldiers trying to heal him. Their eyes spoke of untold grief.

After they dispersed, Joseph looked towards his friend. "I hope you had a good reason."

The only reply was "it was for the kingdom" before Joseph finally died.

'God, that life was garbage. The constant fighting, the intrigue, that's why that dumbass kingdom will collapse in the next few decades. I hope that bitch 'king' is still around when it happens. Alienating the most skillful people to help a bunch of old shits who can barely fucking breathe.'

Joseph, on his path to his next life, ranted like this for at least ten minutes. It was the same every life. He'd recollect on his experiences and relieve his frustrations before progressing.

Honestly, this life was pretty standard. He'd been born in some random village in some random world's equivalent of the middle ages. While he had originally not remembered any of his prior lives, once his brain fully developed, so did his memories. Using the experience of his past life, he grew powerful and raised his status in, what had been a duchy at first.

Nothing really surprised him besides the fact he'd gotten a wife. However, even that became somewhat expected when he discovered she was a relatively unimportant noble, simply meant to link him to the kingdom, so he didn't run away.

After a while of ranting, he'd run out of things to get annoyed about, so he refreshed his head, letting the universe put his soul back into the flow of countless other souls.

'Just like all my other lives, I'll be born in some random town. Once I reach puberty which is about 12 or 13 maybe, my memories will start coming back ', Joseph thought, flowing through the river of reincarnation.

He'd used to have goals like 'get 12 kids' or 'kill 100 people' but eventually, the only thing he really cared of keeping track of, was the amount of reincarnations he'd gone through. He'd counted 359.

He might've gone insane had he fully immersed himself in all these lives but no, he saw most of it as a game. Most of it was as predictable, at least.

Step 1. Remember who he is

Step 2. Fix his current situation

Step 3. Use memories of previous lives to support innovation in whatever field was available to him

Step 4. Profit?

However, no matter how many lives he lived, he would never forget his first one, on Earth. It was easily the worst.

He got stuck doing a job he didn't care about, and never really got out much so neither friends nor girlfriend could alleviate the monotony of life. College had never done anything for him. The only high points were that he died young and that his death was painless since he got hit by a train.

Honestly, he would've jumped in front of a truck had he known about the whole 'reincarnation' business. At least, he'd have bragging rights that it was Truck-kun himself that sent him here.

He didn't really remember his first lives after Earth. He thought that perhaps his mind (or maybe soul?) sealed the memories off to protect him. It made sense. He doubted the first couple of lives of would've been anything but suffering for him, just considering how his mental state would've been after dying and somehow waking up.

As time progressed though, he did realize something. It was all a game, a special one that the universe determined for him. A sort of RPG he could play and face no real consequences for. Once he understood that, it all became much easier. The ones who didn't view life as a game would never search for ways to bend the rules, and as such, they would never succeed. But Joseph, no he was special. He knew the truth of life.

Feeling his soul stretch, Joseph allowed himself to flow into a new life and he drifted off into soul sleep, waiting for his new body to grow old enough for his memories.

He woke up 8 hours later. He couldn't see anything around him nor he could feel anything. All of his senses were cut off. He didn't even feel anything from his body... wait, he hardly even had a body!

Even focusing his soul, he could barely feel anything. What he could feel, was so small that it virtually didn't exist. Actually wait, he could focus his soul?!

It's hard to know where the physical realm of the brain, and the spiritual realm fully meet. Joseph himself, even with his hundreds of reincarnations, still didn't get how it worked. All he knew was that on the path to reincarnation, he'd walk through it with his soul, while if he inhabited a body, it would be entirely physical.

Seeing there was still nothing that could answer his questions, he maneuvered his soul around, trying to see if he could go somewhere. Luckily, his soul didn't seem to be bound. In fact, once he left his "body", his perceptions suddenly changed. He could feel warmth, a lot of it.

He could "see." It was a sort of all-around spatial awareness, like a sixth sense, rather than sight.

The first thing he 'saw' was a penis. He'd recognize the phallic shape anywhere. He assumed the worst. 'Don't tell me I awakened my memories in the middle of having sex', he thought.

However, he quickly dismissed the idea. Nothing made sense. Further spreading his senses, he recoiled in shock.

He was in a bedroom, a large one at that. It was well furnished with various forms of what seemed to actually be modern furniture while the lights seemed to be almost crimson colored. It was very clear what the mood was.

On the bed, he saw a couple having sex. The girl's rich dark-brown hair covered part of her beautifully pleasured face in messy strands. She was fairly well endowed as well, Joseph briefly noted. He'd seen his fair share of women over his hundreds of lives so he wasn't too excited. Not that there was anything to be excited about considering he, as a soul, had no human features.

He also noted that he'd come out of the girl's lower midsection, which annoyingly put him in the center of the intense battle on the bed.

Moving out of the way, he decided to watch, noting the man's physique. He wasn't exceptionally well built but he was fairly lean with somewhat of a prince charming look, minus the dark hair, which was blond.

Joseph was still confused as to what was going on until Prince Charming finally released all of his charm inside the girl on the bed. Rather than purposeful, it looked like he simply couldn't control it.

'This guy has zero pullout game.'

He suddenly realized something. If he had his human form, he'd be rubbing his fingers on his temple. 'Don't tell me this is my starting point. You can't be serious.'

Just like that, Joseph McBane was created.